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[AlohaDawg]

I'm considering buying the old ones and playing around with them before falling into the world-sized games of Vice City and San Andreas. Anyone play GTA, GTA:London or GTA 2? Are they any fun?

[St_Zartan]

I'm considering buying the old ones and playing around with them before falling into the world-sized games of Vice City and San Andreas. Anyone play GTA, GTA:London or GTA 2? Are they any fun?

I don't think you need to buy them - and no, this isn't another "Zartan makes really heavy-handed allusions to software piracy" post - because  the GTA games you mentioned are available for free download via Rockstar's website. (Okay, two out of three ain't bad.) This is a very cool move on their part, especially since GTA is, these days, pretty much a license to print money - but 1 and 2 were never really popular, enjoying more of a cult following.

I really enjoyed them when they were new, but honestly, I couldn't see myself going back. The basic ideas are the same (steal / respray cars, do missions, avoid the law) but, in terms of execution, the series has come so far as to be more or less unrecognizable. The originals are straight-up and more or less constant action; none of this "screwing around with benign side missions" like slinging pizzas, spray painting walls, or saving lives in an ambulance.

GTA and GTA : London become punishingly difficult. I bitched about them earlier in the thread - high goalposts, scarce weapons, and harsh penalties for failure. The games convey all their trademark character / plot through text (I remember one mission in GTA in which it's heavily implied you're the getaway driver in "Reservoir Dogs", and another in London in which you help a certain notorious Lord disappear) and squeaky babble. If someone ever cooked up a mod in which you can quicksave and / or mission select, they'd still be fun to pick up and play; there is potential for really satisfying mayhem. To a casual gamer, though, they're more of interest as historical curiosities. Have a prawn cracker.

Speaking of mayhem, GTA 2 was fuckin' rad. This one had constantly warring gangs that operated on a paper-rock-scissors "respect" mechanic; slaughter gang x, gain respect with and access to gang y. And so on.  The best use of the top-down, arrow key control scheme, and a save game system that doesn't hate your guts. Definitely worth a try; you could easily develop a taste for this game and sink a lot of time into it.

Really, if you want to get into modern-day GTA, I'd start with Vice City. All the innovations and gameplay people associate with the GTA name really came into purest focus there.  I'm pretty sure it's cheap as chips these days.

Am I the only old-school hardcore gamer on the board now that JL's got her hands full with a littl'un?

[robot_roll_call]

Today was my first day in San Andreas. I stole a car and drove for about 10 minutes, finding myself in the middle of a small town in the country, Scared and confused, I stole a tractor and hauled it all the way back to my house to put in the garage.

I hear Bigfoot is lurking in the country. Is this true?

[slink]

Am I the only old-school hardcore gamer on the board now that JL's got her hands full with a littl'un?

Besides music, gaming is probably my second favourite thing. Always has been, since the speccy. Almost ended up in gaming full time, a few times over. What could have been...

I don't know I'd recommend getting the earlier GTA's over 3. They're great in their own way (although I never got into 2 so much), but like Zart says, don't really compare to the recent trilogy in that the execution is so very different. Then again, they are free so...

And, apparently Bigfoot is out there, but in all my hours of playing I've never seen him. Then again, there are still other things I haven't discovered.

[arkabee]

i "lost" my PS2 many moons ago Due To Punishment (or would it have been Due To Repreive?), but fondly played much GTAIII.  Later, a roomate had Vice City and i enjoyed the motor bikes very much.

but this thread made me sadly nostalgic, and then i saw a copy of GTAIII at walmart for less than 10 dollars for PC.

what a sad, sad, sad computer i have to play games with.  the good of it is that the lag makes play incredibly easy.  i can practically go and make a pot of coffee in between shooting people if i pop adrenilin.  yet, i managed to shoot 3 helicopters down with only an uzi.

i am torn between the possibility of 100%, which would be nice for my ego, or getting a less old video card in which to play less very old video games.

[St_Zartan]

Today was my first day in San Andreas. I stole a car and drove for about 10 minutes, finding myself in the middle of a small town in the country, Scared and confused, I stole a tractor and hauled it all the way back to my house to put in the garage.

That is such a great story. The only way it would be better is if it were raining, and you ended up locked out of the house.

Scared and confused, I stole a tractor

Oh, man. Perfect.

I hear Bigfoot is lurking in the country. Is this true?

Some swear yes, some say no. I think that if Bigfoot were there to be found in the PS2 version, he'd have been found and substantially documented by now. Apparently there is a GHOST CAR, though. If I remember right, it's more of a glitch than a deliberate spooky easter egg, so I never really could be bothered hunting it down.

It would massage my sense of mischief greatly to discover Rockstar had gone in and added the previously non-existent Bigfoot to the PC and Xbox versions, but alas - surely the people who are doing all the deep, hardcore, no-holes-barred, wall-to-wall modding would have stumbled upon the model and skin for M. Foot already.

[jough]

There's no big foot (other than the monster truck) or UFO in the desert (although they mention strange lights on the radio) and people with the PC version have completely broken down the game into every model, texture, etc. looking for stuff.  They did find a white CJ, and the "hot coffee" fuck scenes that were stripped out of the game, though.

I'm finally in San Fierro and now have a choice of about five different missions to do (if you count the Valet sub-missions and Driving School as missions) and am actively enjoying the game again - at least, as much as my limited 30 minutes per day allows.

But that 4:30-5AM slot is just filled to the brim with glee now!

[robot_roll_call]

That is such a great story. The only way it would be better is if it were raining, and you ended up locked out of the house.

It actually was raining.

Today was a much better day for me. I discovered the gym and worked out, got some gang colors, and found the gun hidden on the roof of the house next to mine and the brass knuckles under the overpass. Feeling powerful, I took to the streets, where my reign of terror lasted for about 5 minutes until I was gunned down by a hooker.

I also drove a car headlong into a gas station. I don't know why I was expecting a different result.

[St_Zartan]

White CJ looks ridiculous - I don't think it was "locked in the game" so much as a new skin someone whipped up at home. And I've seen children, young children, banging Barbie dolls together in more convincing simulations of romance and coitus than that dumb fuck*ng "hot coffee" mod. As long as they're modding skins, I'd like some sort of editor to create your own clothes and tattoos.

It's sort of a shame, the game being completely vivisected by its online fanbase - I wouldn't mind one or two PC-only gotchas.

Driving School, by the way, can suck my dick forever. If the tags and other tiny findables were put into the game to sell strategy guides, well, there's just no fuck*ng excuse for the various schools and the fuck*ngly insane level of luck and precision needed to "get golds". A friend and I did it on the PS2, but it wasn't fun, and I really don't see myself making the effort again. Do you like doing things over and over again? How about while listening to "Cult of Personality"? Well you will not believe what San Andreas has in store for you --

RRC, I am loving your updates; please keep them coming. I cannot wait until you (a) discover the magical world of eating and (b) take to the skies.

[jough]

I'll have to consult the guide to see if completing driving school gives you anything other than better driving skill (which you can get just by playing the game and, um, DRIVING) and some stupid unlocked car spawning somewhere (which I can spawn anywhere with a cheat code).

I did the tags, and it got my cycle and bike skills up while I really got to KNOW Los Santos.  No big deal.  It was kinda fun.

Oysters and Photos and hossshoes can suck my fuck*ng nuts, though, because four sets of repetitive tasks for one game is just too damn much.  I also understand that some of the oysters are out in the middle of the damn ocean, so there's pretty much no way you could ever find them even if you were looking for them (without a guide).  Fuck THAT action, Jack.

So I downloaded a "trainer" that will unlock all of this shit for me that wouldn't be fun anyway, without messing up my standings or showing any use of cheats in my stats.  Where's your God NOW, CJ?

[slink]

I'll have to consult the guide to see if completing driving school gives you anything other than better driving skill

The biggy is, it lets you buy the car showroom across from your garage in San Fierro, and thus also take part in the street races, as far as I recall. I haven't managed the barrell roll on the PC version yet, dagnabbit.
The rest I silvered pretty easily, having golded all but one on the PS2. Stupid keys.

[Ben-San]

Oysters and Photos and hossshoes can suck my fuck*ng nuts, though, because four sets of repetitive tasks for one game is just too damn much.  I also understand that some of the oysters are out in the middle of the damn ocean, so there's pretty much no way you could ever find them even if you were looking for them (without a guide).  Fuck THAT action, Jack.

The photos would not be objectionable if they were better-implemented. Ideally, every photo op would be near a unique and interesting landmark, and in such a position that if you were to take a photo of that landmark the photo op icon would be in frame as well. Some of them are (the one in front of the clock tower on City Hall) but too many of them are just "in the general vicinity of some skyscraper, in such a position that a photo that gets the icon is otherwise a random stretch of sky".

As for the oysters and hossshoes, they're an irritating afterthought. The tags were an interesting and in-flavor collection mechanic, and the photo ops had the potential to be, but these are more "go to random places, find the floating icon, grab it" stuff with no sensical purpose. As an extra bonus, the reward for collecting the oysters is outstandingly useless; sex appeal is easy to max out (or at least get high enough that you can do everything it allows) and you'll probably nearly max out your breath collecting the damn things anyway.

[St_Zartan]

The biggy is, it lets you buy the car showroom across from your garage in San Fierro, and thus also take part in the street races, as far as I recall.

It does? Whoops, I must have forgotten about that.

Collecting the various cars for export was one of my favorite ways to spend time in the mid-game. I can't put my finger on why, but it was just a lot of fun to drive around, listening to music and looking around and OH SHIT THERE IT IS GRAB THAT GUY

And that was before User Track Player. I am very much looking forward to doing that again.

Ben-San, once again you've taken the words right out of my mouth. I actually liked the photos in theory, and collecting them (with a guide, naturally) was an enjoyable enough exercise. You're 100% right that they should have been of Interesting Things, rather than a really long and needlessly complex scavenger hunt (the fuck*ng things are invisible except through the camera's viewfinder). I got thrown out of Los Santos last night, and due to Punishment (a really awesome motorcycle accident, actually) I found myself in San Fierro with no wanted stars and the ability to start collecting photos.

The oysters could have been neat. They look neat, and I like swimming around for some reason. Once again, fun with a guide. The hossshoes are basically a big fuck you; they raise a nearly worthless stat (at that point in the game, anyway) and most of the time can only be reached with a very special and specific means of conveyance. I liked having those guns handy, though.

[Ben-San]

You're 100% right that they should have been of Interesting Things, rather than a really long and needlessly complex scavenger hunt (the fuck*ng things are invisible except through the camera's viewfinder).

As far as that goes, the invisibility wouldn't be a problem if they were, without exception, located right near things that you look at and think "If I were a tourist, possibly a slightly tacky one, I would take a snap of that". Good examples: the clock tower, the big "plane crashing through a billboard"-looking sign near the airport, the big memorial statue of General Somebody in a park, and even the battleship you need to snap while the military fires on you is interesting enough to make you think "hmm, photo op". Bad examples: Floating in a random spot on the wall of a skyscraper, Sort Of In The Sky Somewhere, Back Door Of City Hall, Random Chemical Tank, and the one on a broad featureless rooftop whose only distinguishing feature is that you need a helicopter to get to where you can take a picture.

Speaking of which, there is actually an alternate option to that and to the 'special means of transportation' you describe for those players crazy enough (me. I am such a player) to take it: Get a plane of some kind, preferably a stunt plane or Dodo for maximum craziness, and leap out when you're over the place you want to be. I did this for the photo op before I was entirely clear on how to use parachutes when bailing out, which added considerable enjoyment to the process as I had to buzz it rather closely. I don't think I'd try that stunt for all the hossshoes, but you could probably use a chopper for most of them.

[robot_roll_call]

Have you turned up your draw distance yet? I did and wow, what a difference. Seriously, I would advise anyone at all interested in this game - even if you've already played / beaten the PS2 version - to acquire a PC copy if your machine is at all muscly: what you're going to want to do is adjust that draw distance, steal one of those zippy little Shamal jets (You can get into the Los Santos airport without a pilot's license. Don't be retarded.), and just fly low over the city and surrounding landscape.

I did some flying on the PS2, yeah, but it was pretty much a utilitarian exercise - it's a joy, here (even if my plane mysteriously and suddenly exploded moments after I wagged my wings over the VINEWOOD sign - we shall never forget), and it looks great. I really appreciate San Andreas as a living space a whole lot more after navigating by air and seeing it as a gestalt, you dig? Check it out. It's neat.
.

"Oh how delightful," I thought. "Soaring above our petty gang differences, where only eagles dare! What a fantastic idea, St Zartan!"

So I hopped the fence to the airport. There I found a charming little jet. I climbed in, started the propeller and I soared, very magestically, into the side of a hangar. Fortunately I was close enough to the ground (actually I might not have even left it) to bail out.

So I decided to search for another plane. Instead, I stumbled upon one of the luggage cars. This delighted me to no end because it's my personal goal to drive only the finest of the totally retarded vehichles scattered around Los Santos. Previous highlights included the tractor I drove home and the riding mower I took on a turf war rampage, which went about as well as you'd imagine it did.

Anyways, five planes later, I was in the air.  And you were right. Los Santos is beautiful from the skies. I can't believe how alive it felt.

But then I pushed my luck when I decided to take my plane over the river. I saw the 4 stars as soon as I crossed. But in my hubris, I assumed THE MAN couldn't touch me in the sky. Turns out, they even had a bear in the air.

Long story short, stinger missiles, fiery death spiral, side of building. I think tomorrow I will stay earthbound and steal a semi to run over Ballas with. I earned it.